Police have given a gang of Tayport teenage troublemakers a dressing down in front of their parents in a bid to make them stop terrorising their community.
Officers apprehended four of the youths after they had wreaked a trail of havoc through the town on Monday night. Police marched them home to their parents.
The youngsters were given stern warnings about the mayhem they had been causing by throwing stones and eggs at homes in the Harbour Road area.
Their parents were also reminded about their responsibility for their children, to know what they were getting up to when out of the house. Officers also drew out of the four the names and addresses of up to eight of their friends who were not with them on Monday but were suspected of causing similar trouble in the town on previous occasions.
They later visited the homes of these children to give them and their parents the same no-nonsense treatment.
The prompt action of the police was praised by one Tayport resident in the Harbour Road area who has suffered from the youths’ anti-social behaviour.
”It has been going on for some time and has been raised with the police at community engagement meetings,” said the man, who did not want to be named. ”They rampage down the road to the harbour area, throw stones and eggs at people’s property and behave in a threatening way.
”Some people who live here can shrug it off, but there are older people who are terrified at what has been going on. It’s good that the police acted so quickly and I hope effectively in dealing with this problem this week.
“By tracing the youngsters and speaking to them in front of their parents, I’m sure the message will have got home.”
Fife Constabulary said the episode was a good example of the force’s community policing initiative. Officers in individual areas have held regular meetings at which the public are invited to state what they see as the main law and order problems.
These are voted on to draw up priorities for police action and in Tayport the top concern was youth trouble in the common and old harbour area.
PC Gordon Taylor urged Tayport residents to continue to support the community engagement approach by attending the next meeting, to be held in the Dolphin Centre at 7pm on March 14.